Double Bass Wolf killed with tailpiece and tailgut change

etorgerson

etorgerson

Nov 8, 2014
163
37
4,761
Suburban Chicago
#1
My Christopher DB302 3/4 Gamba hybrid has had wolf notes ever since I changed to fifths tuning- until today when I decided to try some things before putting on new strings.
It was wolfiest with a cable tailpiece. I then tried ebony and rosewood harp and standard tailpieces with kevlar and dyneema, but still was having to tune brass wolf eliminators.
I decided to try to brighten it up with a Wittner composite Ultra TP with the matching thin guage Wittner steel wire tailgut. It worked like I had hoped - louder, clearer, punchier- even with the old strings.
I tried the low C afterlength tuned to F# (first distance) and F and found that all of the wolfiness is now gone!
 
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#2
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#7
I just got the same affect on my cello that has Knilling Perfection’s licensed PegHeds geared pegs. The after length on the low C is tuned to G at the moment. I was able to take off the Krentz wolf resonator as well. I was worried that it would sound brittle as I had tried light tailpieces with kevlar and wire before when I first took off the fine tuner tailpiece Similar to my experience on the bass, it now has a more focused sound with a nice full punchy bottom and clear upper register in thumb position.
 
#11
Yes lucky, I have a Wittner tailpiece and my bass wolfs like crazy around octave G up to octave B flat on g string... maybe I need those fishing line weights u took off ;)

Or maybe I should put my quiver back on, now that I think about it, when I used to use it, I don’t remember the wolf being as bad.....
 
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#12
A big congrats on the new tailpiece and gut...

Not to take away from those great changes, but keep in mind they may or may not have been the solution to the wolf. Also changed were strings, and in making all of these changes, the essential setup has changed. Wolfs can be extremely elusive, the many technical aspects of double bass geometry can be changed by very subtle influences, and sometimes the exact solution to a wolf cannot be known.

But you do know that something that changed during the process of changing your tailpiece, gut and strings has gotten rid of the wolf. That, along with all the new parts, is worthy of celebration!

Enjoy!!!
 
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